Mayoral candidates join local Forum on Disability Policy

Candidates running for NYC Mayor highlighted their plans for disability policy and its proposed effects on the community on April 25, during the hybrid forum hosted by the Center for the Independence of the Disabled New York (CIDNY). The Democratic candidates in attendance were: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, former NYS Assembly Member Michael Blake (79th District), NYS Senator Jessica Ramos (13th District), and Independent candidate Jim Walden. The candidates first discussed what they would do to expand job opportunities for the disabled in the city if elected. Senator Ramos, who is the chairwoman of the Labor Committee shared her belief that it is going to take all New Yorkers in order to overcome the current crises in the City, including in affordable housing, climate, childcare, elder care, and mental healthcare. "This is all what amounts to public safety, and I think that we can have lots of opportunities for people with differing abilities to help every step of the way. If it's a matter of greeting people, holding doors, answering the phones or actually having much more executive roles, we want people to be able to excel and truly have the opportunity to interview for all of the jobs that will be made available in my administration and through my administration," she stated. She also wants to make sure her administration helps to get rid of the very high unemployment rate there is among people with disabilities, to ensure everyone is able to live their lives as independently as possible. The candidates also shared how they would push the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) to expand and maintain accessibility with City buses and the City subway, specifically elevator access. Jim Walden shared his experience of being in subway stations, in places where he has lived around the city, and he kept seeing the same elevators broken over and over and over again. "With respect to accessibility everywhere else, New York State is required to follow the settlement and the law. You deserve fully accessible public transportation, full stop. So, there's no excuses, there's no limitations, there's no issues, except for the will to get it done and the prioritizing that needs to happen, which never seems to happen no matter who's in office," he said. He also pointed out that this hasn't happened in the current Adams administration or in the previous Bill de Blasio or Michael Bloomberg administrations, while also emphasizing that during his administration, it's going to be a priority. Additionally, candidates shared their plans to ensure children in City schools are getting vital mental health support. Comptroller Lander stated that this issue is very personal to him, as his mom was a public school, elementary school guidance counselor. "It was like a whole lesson for how to figure out how to help every single kid get their mental health needs addressed. But right now we don't have guidance counselors in about a fifth of our schools. We don't have school social workers, and especially ones that speak the languages of their kids. We've got a growing chronic absenteeism crisis in our schools, which in many cases reflects challenging mental health issues in families, and yet there's no one whose job it is to go out and say to that family, 'Hey, you know, we see you,'" he added. Lander continued, saying that as Mayor, he'll make sure all schools in the City get guidance counselors or school social workers who speak the various languages that kids in the schools speak. He also said he'll make sure there are personnel at the Department of Education (DOE) whose job it is to go out when there's chronic absenteeism. Furthermore, the candidates elaborated on their plans to ensure the safety of immunocompromised people who might be more vulnerable to things like air pollution and crowd-spread diseases. Blake stated that if someone is in a scenario where they want to make sure that people around them are actually safe, they should be able to wear a mask, without having worries or fears of being harassed. "Second, we have to think through how we are being much more intentional around the building and development and the renovations that are happening within our buildings, because too often, we presume that the greatest level of emission is coming from vehicles, is actually from buildings that dynamic is what's leading to so many challenges. My mama battles asthma. Consistently, we only saw people talk about it at a heightened degree during COVID, but it was happening all across before COVID and after COVID," he continued. Blake also pointed out that the City doesn't regularly create those scenarios and conditions, and he said that often when someone's body is being compromised, it's important to be intentional. "If we're serious about making sure that you are protected and that you are safe, we have to then create conditions to actually give you greater protections, not the reverse," he stated.